If "Boomtowns" of the 1800's Only Had This Kind of Store... Well, Maybe They Did!

This story is from just a couple of days ago while I was delivering one of the "America Works" lessons to a sixth grade class of 19 students who are a pretty sharp group. They're attentive, ask good questions, interact well and typically respond with perceptive answers to questions I may ask them.

In this component, I am going over the experiences that miners and prospectors had when venturing out west to seek their fortune in gold or silver. Throughout the course, I often ask the class to compare or parallel the life of the prospecting entrepreneur in the 1850's versus what an innovator may experience today. Most of them know that life back then was much harder than it is today, but many have yet to fully understand that so many things we use and have today weren't even in existence back then. In this classroom adventure, a student's response actually sheds some light on how some retailers have actually been around for years... only the names have changed.

We were discussing how boomtowns came together during the 1800's and the types of businesses (only the ones on the "up and up" of course!) that were within them. Stables, hotels, banks and general merchandise to name a few. We talked about the gold that they were seeking and I spoke briefly about how radically the price of the metal has changed in recent years - in some cases enough to make it worthwhile to open up mines that were closed many years ago. I told them that while it may be nice to make items out of pure gold, often it is alloyed with other metals to add durability. The discussion led to my next question.

"So where do you think that prospectors sold their gold?" I asked, looking for an answer of "Assay Office". Since this is not a type of shop that students have likely ever heard about, I wasn't anticipating a correct answer. A few students shared their ideas, one boy said a jeweler, which was a pretty well thought observation. The class was running out of replies, but one student was sitting there looking very pensive and sheepishly raised his hand. I called on him and he paused a little, "ummm, uh.... Cash for Gold?"

"No" I said with a slight smile on my face, "It was actually called an Assay Office. Cash for Gold stores didn't exist back then, but in many respects they do today what Assay Offices did in the 1800's. Not a bad answer!" 


It's all in the marketing I guess!